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The American UN ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, is a rare exception among Security Council members in refraining from criticizing Israel’s decision. Instead, she calls on the council to condemn Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Iran has launched an unprecedented attack against Israel, firing a barrage of missiles at the country in the latest escalation amid weeks of soaring violence and tensions in the region.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Tuesday that it fired missiles at Israel in response to deadly Israeli attacks against people in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as the assassinations of top IRGC, Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
Alarms sounded in Israel on Tuesday evening as the missiles fell on major cities and towns.
Israel and its top ally, the United States, said their respective militaries worked together to shoot down most of the nearly 200 projectiles that were fired by Iran.
The Israeli army said only a “few” hits were recorded in central and southern parts of the country while two people were injured from falling shrapnel in the Tel Aviv area, according to Israel’s emergency service.
Here’s what we know about the attack, the wider context, and what could come next.
The exact details of the Iranian operation remain unclear, but the IRGC said in a statement that the missiles were aimed at “vital military and security targets” in Israel.
The IRGC said later that its attack was aimed specifically at three military bases in the Tel Aviv area.
The attack, which was accompanied by a large-scale cyberattack, also employed Iran’s new Fatah hypersonic ballistic missiles for the first time, according to Iranian state media.
The Israeli military said it intercepted “a large number” of the 180 ballistic missiles launched by Iran, but that there were “isolated” impacts in central and southern Israel. The IRGC said that 90 percent of the projectiles fired hit their targets.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the American military “coordinated closely” with its Israeli counterparts to shoot down the projectiles.
“US naval destroyers joined Israeli air defence units in firing interceptors to shoot down inbound missiles,” Sullivan told reporters at the White House.
Sullivan said no deaths were reported in Israel: “In short, based on what we know at this point, this attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective,” he said.